Brian Haskins has waited six years to see a sales tax placed on a ballot to raise funds for park improvements.
He figures he can wait a few more weeks.
The Jefferson County Council was scheduled on July 26 to vote on placing a 3/8ths-cent sales tax for park improvements on the April 2022 ballot, but Haskins, who represents District 1 on the council, pulled the preliminary vote.
He asked County Executive Dennis Gannon to reschedule the first of three required votes on the question to the council’s Aug. 23 meeting.
A final vote could be taken Sept. 13.
“I wanted it removed to have time to fix a problem in it,” Haskins said. “We saw a potential problem in the title of the legislation and the wording that would appear on the ballot. I thought maybe we could take care of those problems with amendments, but Dennis asked me to slow down and do this right. He’s completely correct. We have time to do it right.”
The title of the bill indicated money generated by a dedicated parks sales tax would be restricted to “the improvement and development of existing parks” in the county, while the proposed ballot language would allow for new parks, recreation centers and parks services.
Before the council voted unanimously to postpone a vote on the legislation, nine county residents spoke at the meeting about the proposal.
Chris Allen of House Springs, a high school counselor, said having a quality parks system is important for children and teens.
“Parks give kids avenues that allow them to express themselves in positive ways,” he said. “We have to think deeper (than thinking of a parks tax as an additional expense). Prevention is a river. If you put more money into parks, you’re taking off the stress from our ambulances and law enforcement. We need to give people a chance to decide whether they want to put their money into parks.”
Sarah Bazzell of Hillsboro, who instructs fitness classes at the Parks Department’s High Ridge Civic Center, said she favors placing the tax on the ballot.
“We saw first-hand during the pandemic just how important parks are,” she said. “People flooded the hiking trails. People could meet and mingle outdoors, and it’s healthy just to be outside. Parks provide a positive economic benefit. We have not seen an increase in parks funding since 1979 – my entire life.”
That’s when a countywide property tax of 2.73 cents per $100 of assessed valuation was implemented.
That property tax funds almost all the Jefferson County Parks Department’s $1 million budget, with some money coming from grants and user fees.
Not everyone was convinced.
Don Bickowski of Eureka, a former county councilman, pointed out that as the county’s assessed valuation has increased through the years, revenue from the property tax has gone up.
“This county needs a new jail and a courthouse,” he said. “This poor planning will create a crisis.”
David Day of Arnold said alternate ways of funding parks improvements should be considered.
“I think it’s really nice to want these things, but it costs money and we don’t have it,” he said. “Where is the economic development plan (that would attract commercial firms to the county)? Why do we constantly have to go to the taxpayers? Where is this money coming from? We are not piggy banks.”
Darren Street of the Festus area said the private sector should finance any improvements needed through sign sponsorships.
“Bigger government is worse government,” he said.
Haskins eyes council vote
Haskins said for the time being, his focus is on putting a sales tax proposal on the ballot.
“We don’t even have it on a ballot yet,” he said.
As a member of the Parks Foundation, which advises the Parks Department, Haskins led a 2015 charge to place a 1/2-cent parks sales tax on the ballot. County officials said they needed more information, and the matter never came up for a vote.
Haskins won the District 1 seat on the County Council in 2018 while running a pro-parks campaign and almost immediately asked the council to consider a 3/8th-cent sales tax. Council members said they needed more information and that a study would be required, but it was never funded.
Haskins said he believes this time may be different.
Unlike the other two proposals, the sales tax would be collected only in unincorporated areas. Most of the cities in Jefferson County levy their own taxes for parks, he noted.
Haskins said as it is structured, the tax would generate about $5 million a year.
And while he said he’d like to see a recreation center built in the northwest part of the county, Parks Department Director Tim Pigg and the county’s Parks Board would determine how that additional revenue would best be spent.
“This will not, and has never been, just about me,” he said. “I’d think after it is placed on the ballot, there will be town hall meetings, and the types of questions about what the money might be used for will be discussed at that point by the people who will be running a committee to raise money to promote it (the ballot issue). I don’t want to be the face of this proposition. This committee – those folks will be in charge of discussing money and getting information out. My job is to get this on the ballot in front of people so they’ll get a chance to vote on it.”
In a July 12 vote to place the proposal on the July 26 agenda, council members Renee Reuter (District 2, Imperial), Phil Hendrickson (District 3, Arnold) and Charles Groeteke (District 4, Barnhart) voted against it, and Haskins, Tracey Perry (District 5, Festus), Dan Stallman (District 6, De Soto) and Vicky James (District 7, Cedar Hill) voted in favor of the proposal.
“It’s my hope that all of the council members come to realize by the final vote that we’re not voting to raise taxes,” Haskins said. “We’re giving a chance to the public to decide what kind of parks they want.”